More than a Venti

I know it’s been a while but fear not, because I haven’t stopped working toward my weight loss goals! I’ve gotta say, the last couple of weigh-in’s were rough. The week after my Whole 30 journey I lost 3 pounds, which was great, but then the next two weeks only had me down one more pound! I had gotten into a great workout routine, I was staying within my Points allowance (usually below actually), and I just didn’t see the results I thought I’d get. And I wasn’t noticing any of those NSV’s (non-scale victories) lately… my clothes were still fitting the same, and I still looked the same.

But then this morning, one month after I’d finished Whole 30, I stepped on the scale, and it was glorious. I lost 5 pounds! It’s pretty cool that February has exactly 4 weeks, so I was able to get 4 weigh-in’s and know exactly how much I’ve lost since Whole 30, exactly one month later. 9 pounds in February! And add that to the 14 pounds I lost during Whole 30, and that means I’ve lost 23 pounds so far this year.

23 pounds! I’m going to extrapolate that a few months forward, and that means by the end of June I could be down 40 more pounds! By the end of the year?? OMG Im getting excited!

So what am I doing? Well, I’ve been exercising like a mad woman! I went from never working out, to hitting the gym 3-4 days a week. And when I can’t make it to the gym (like today, for example), I walk around the neighborhood or up and down the stairs. At work, I’ve made a rule for myself that I’m only allowed to take the elevator if I’m going up or down more than 2 floors. Otherwise, I hit the stairs.

I also eat less. I understand how many Weight Watchers SmartPoints are attributed to which portion sizes, and I adjust my plate accordingly. I measure more. Today, for example, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, and instead of scooping a large glob of PB with a knife and slapping it on my bread, I measured 1 tablespoon (serving size is technically 2, but I saved 3 whole points by halving it), and it was quite sufficient.

I celebrated my victory with 2 slices of cheese pizza tonight, but even in doing so, I’m within my Points allowance (it helps when you’re fasting between meals and have lots and lots of points at the end of the day).

I think my next big milestone will be dropping a dress size. This one will be undoubtedly harder to measure, because I already wore such a variety of sizes depending on brand, but once I can go down to a size I couldn’t before, I know I’ll be there. And I’ll celebrate like it’s 1999 (er… or maybe 2006, once I turned 21 and was free to basically do whatever I wanted).

I’m so very grateful for all the words of encouragement! Please don’t stop!